Tarping it vs. ul Tent???

[sdisser]

Seems like I'm coming across a lot of hikers on here saying that they will tarp instead of tent next time. Why?

What are the benefits and drawbacks of each? I have a 3 lb tent already, but am considering selling it and tarping instead.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[Mountain Mike]

For tents you need correct footprint to set it up. Tarps can be used to block wind in a shelter, set up depending on location & weather, can cook under them, roomy depending on size. Drawbacks: Bugs, knowing how to set up in high winds, time taken to set up in less than ideal conditions. I do both & consider trail & conditions when hiking. On AT NOBO I took a campmoor 10' X 10' tent tarp & loved it. Have since wore out 3 in 25 years. ON PCT in buggy conditions loved my tent.

[Hosaphone]

Pros:

Generally cheaper - $100 for a new 8x10 silnylon, $200 for cuben

Save a lot of weight - silnylon 8x10 will weigh ~15oz, cuben ~7oz. Can easily put together a sub-1-lb shelter/bug solution for $300ish, which is about what you pay for a new 2lb tent.

Versatility of pitches - pitch it high for ventilation so you avoid condensation, low to the ground for wind blown rain, pitch one side to the ground and leave the other open, etc.

Depending on size of the tarp, much more space to move around during a storm. Also more room for your gear.

Trivial to pack up in the rain - don't have to worry about keeping the interior of a tent dry. Just pack up all your other stuff and then take down the tarp last.

Can cook underneath it more comfortably and safely than cooking in a tent vestibule.

Easier to find camp spots - you don't have a big bathtub floor to worry about, so you don't need as much completely clear ground which can be hard to find in dense forest. Can pitch it over small shrubs, etc.

More versatile setup especially on the AT if you are a shelter person - use the tarp alone if no bugs, cowboy or use bivy if no rain, use the bivy inside a shelter for bug protection, use tarp to block wind/rain coming into shelter.

A tarp with enough pullouts, stakes, guylines will also be more storm worthy than many ultralight tents due to the fact that you can get the fabric very taut if you pitch it right.

Easier to pee at night...

Nice views, easier to identify night time noises

Cons:

Not as idiotproof as a tent - site selection and getting a good pitch are important if you plan on staying dry.

Can be more fiddly to set up, and more annoying in the cold. This can be mitigated with linelocs or certain knot systems.

Bugs will be more of an issue. Whether you go with just a bivy/bugbivy or a full net tent, you'll likely have less "bug free" space. However, if you like to stay at shelters, your "bug free" space will be more convenient...

Less privacy. You can pitch a tarp with 3 or even 4 sides to the ground, but if you're traveling with a significant other you may want more privacy. But you can always go stealth camp in the woods where nobody will find you.

I think the biggest argument against using a tarp for 3-season hiking is the psychological aspect. Some people just plain don't like it, for whatever reason. They feel more comfortable enclosed inside a tent. I'll admit my first few times camping under a tarp after tenting my whole life I was like, "jeez you can just sleep out in the open like this?" It felt really weird.

I'd suggest picking up a blue hardware store tarp and trying it out to see if you like it before diving in, selling your tent and buying a fancy backpacking tarp.

[jeffmeh]

To me, it boils down to this:

A tarp is great for 3-season hiking, as it can be light and versatile, but there is a higher-level of skill required to pitch it effectively to deal with bad weather. The real downside is lack of bug protection, so where that is an issue I prefer a tent.

[garlic08]

I'll probably always stick with a hybrid approach--tarptent. If you add a ground cloth to your tarp, which most do, and don't bring one if you use a tarptent, which I do, the weight difference gets less important--just a couple yards of netting. I've tried tarps and tents extensively, and I prefer tarptents. Bugs are the main reason, pitching time second. The last time I used a tarp during a desert windstorm, I woke up with scorpions. The previous night there were ants. For safety and sleep, I went with a sewn-in floor and zipper door and haven't looked back.

[Odd Man Out]

I am in a similar situations (contemplating tarp vs tent) and asked a similar question last May. There was some great input you might like to read.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...-to-buy-a-tarp!

To muddy the waters, there is a whole spectrum of shelters along a continuum from tarp to tent with hybrids in between - some of which are more tarp-like and some of which are more tent-like, so you could perhaps find your comfort zone somewhere in the middle. Products like the MLD Patrol Shelter with its net tent or bug bivy, or the ZPacks Hexamid with integrated bug screen, seem to be more among the more tarp-like of hybrid shelters on that spectrum. This seems to be where I am leaning, but still undecided.

[Hosaphone]

I'll probably always stick with a hybrid approach--tarptent. If you add a ground cloth to your tarp, which most do, and don't bring one if you use a tarptent, which I do, the weight difference gets less important--just a couple yards of netting. I've tried tarps and tents extensively, and I prefer tarptents. Bugs are the main reason, pitching time second. The last time I used a tarp during a desert windstorm, I woke up with scorpions. The previous night there were ants. For safety and sleep, I went with a sewn-in floor and zipper door and haven't looked back.

You make some good points - a lot will probably depending WHERE you're hiking.

In the dense forests of the northeast, the faster pitching time of a tent is insignificant compared to the extra time you need to spend looking for a suitable spot to pitch it... Hiking with a buddy who uses a hammock made me become really fed up with shelters that have a big footprint, as he could hang literally anywhere while I was scrambling around looking for a spot.

In a place where ants are a big problem, a tent is probably really nice. There are some pretty cool net tent options available though (check out Bearpaw Wilderness Designs).

Theoretically tarptent-style shelters should have the weight advantage, but since they are typically made out of silnylon instead of cuben that usually ends up not being the case (and even the cuben ones. Depending on what you're comparing, the weight/price differences can be big or small.

All comes down to personal preference I suppose.

[Colter]

I'll probably always stick with a hybrid approach--tarptent. If you add a ground cloth to your tarp, which most do, and don't bring one if you use a tarptent, which I do, the weight difference gets less important--just a couple yards of netting. I've tried tarps and tents extensively, and I prefer tarptents. Bugs are the main reason, pitching time second. The last time I used a tarp during a desert windstorm, I woke up with scorpions. The previous night there were ants. For safety and sleep, I went with a sewn-in floor and zipper door and haven't looked back.

Garlic is a wise man.

[daddytwosticks]

Down south here after the thru-hiker push is over and when the weather warms up, I tend to use a poncho-tarp and bug bivy on my shorter hikes when I plan to sleep in the shelters. Works really well.

[Miner]

Crawling bugs such as ants should not be a criteria on tarping or not. That issue is solved by checking the ground for insects around a prospective tarp campsite BEFORE setting up. As someone who used a small tarp + bivy on both the PCT and the AT, as well as other trips, I've only had problems with ants 1 time. And that time I couldn't check around my site since I was in a lava field cover in lava rocks and the only no rocky place to camp was the trail itself. The rocks made it impossible to see the ants until after I was already in bed and they came out.As for flying bugs (ie. mosquitos), you have to ask yourself, are you someone who camps to sleep or do you stop to hang out in camp. If you only camp to sleep, then being confined to a small bivy sack or bug bivy isn't a big deal since you are inside it only to sleep. If you like to hang out in camp for awhile (read, journal, talk, etc.) then having a larger space that a tent or tarptent makes more sense.I tarp mainly because I hate setting up any kind of shelter so I sleep out (cowboy camp) most of the time if weather permits. So having a bivy sack makes the most sense for me. And thus, needing some protection when it rains, I carry the lightest shelter I can with the amount of coverage that I want (ie. cuben fiber tarp). But it only gets used when the weather is bad so most of the time its just extra weight. So for me, having a seperate bug protection and weather protection is exactly what I wanted. And I have no weight penalty as my tarp+bivy is under 15oz which is lighter then most alternatives. On the PCT, cowboy camping is very common. On the AT, I got some strange looks many nights, "what is he doing!?".

[ChinMusic]

I'll probably always stick with a hybrid approach--tarptent. If you add a ground cloth to your tarp, which most do, and don't bring one if you use a tarptent, which I do, the weight difference gets less important--just a couple yards of netting. I've tried tarps and tents extensively, and I prefer tarptents. Bugs are the main reason, pitching time second. The last time I used a tarp during a desert windstorm, I woke up with scorpions. The previous night there were ants. For safety and sleep, I went with a sewn-in floor and zipper door and haven't looked back.

I agree 100%. I don't want crawling/flying visitors to my sleep. My "tent" is basically a tarp with attached bug netting and a bathtub floor. I just have it all "prepackaged" and for 20 oz.

I ain't lookin' back either.

[mtnkngxt]

MLD Cuben Solo Pro and a Cuben Patrol Shelter in conjunction with an MLD bug bivy or TiGoat Ptarmigan bivy are my only shelters. I can add in a Zpacks ground sheet to give myself a bathtub floor if the weather on the trip looks like it could get squirrely.

Personally this is more than enough "protection" from the elements for me. I wouldn't judge anyone though if they were uncomfortable in it though. You cannot "hang out" in these shelters and it isn't somewhere I'd want to spend a 0 day. It does encourage me though to get up and moving quickly and to hike longer due to the speed of setup and ease of finding a spot to pitch my shelter.

[RedBeerd]

Solo I wouldnt be comfortable under a tarp..alone..with things moving around.. I had a few visitors on the LT sniffing around my tent (a massive hare, bold deer, skunk, possibly black bear) and if I were under a tarp versus being cozy in my tent I may have **** myself in all honesty. I heard a story of some rabid skunk trying to get into a tent and this skunk was like charging into the sidewall. Imagine if you were under a tarp? No thanks..others may be tougher but I'm comfortable in my tent thank you very much!
As far as weight I think my BA fly creek 1 is 2lb. Obviously lighter out there (cha-ching) but it is a really solid tent and probably the only piece of gear I don't daydream about upgrading.

[BirdBrain]

My setup consists of a homemade 10' x 10' silnylon tarp, OR Alpine bivy, 45+ Big Agnes Cross Mountain sleeping bag, and Exped UL 7 M air mattress. If it is nice out, the tarp will stay in pack. I will only use it when weather requires it.

[shelb]

To me, it boils down to this:

A tarp is great for 3-season hiking, as it can be light and versatile, but there is a higher-level of skill required to pitch it effectively to deal with bad weather. The real downside is lack of bug protection, so where that is an issue I prefer a tent.

This sums it up! I love a tarp in great weather, but in a windy downpour, it is a problem for me!

[Mags]

All good answers. Notice how many people with many different experiences all found what worked for them and their style of hiking. You might think there is nous uh thing as the best gear or something...

[Mountain Mike]

All good answers. Notice how many people with many different experiences all found what worked for them and their style of hiking. You might think there is nous uh thing as the best gear or something...

There is always the perfect piece of gear...as long it's the right time, place & weather. It's up to the user to decide which piece it is.

[Stink Bug]

There is always the perfect piece of gear...as long it's the right time, place & weather. It's up to the user to decide which piece it is.

I use a tarp, a tarp tent and a hammock, and I like them equally. As Mags and Mountain Mike said (to paraphrase), it's the right tool for the right job.

In the winter, I actually prefer my tarp. It's lighter and, with the bivy to protect against spoondrift and horizontal rain, pretty bomber proof. The only caveat is that, as others have mentioned, with a tarp, it requires some judicial site selection.

That being said, I've survived nights on the JMT and the West Rim Trail with THE worst thunderstorms with just my tarp and stayed warm and dry.

[leaftye]

My problem with a tarp, at least in the windy West, is that my gear might blow away. It has before, and I had put my heavier items on top of the gear that blew away. Unfortunately there were no nearby rocks to place on my gear. So that's why I prefer fully enclosed shelters. At least I know all my gear will stay inside it.

[stranger]

For me...tarps alone make little sense now with various tarp tents coming in around 23-27 ounces. Most tarp users I know, myself included, also carry a groundsheet and some bug net, combined with 10-14 stakes and it's easy to get up to 2lbs with a tarp.

Tarps are certainly more versatile, but I've not found a huge need for this...For me I need rain protection, I want bug protection, and I desire protection from groundwater and blowing rain, so a tarp tent does the trick for 23-27 ounces.